The first thing you notice about Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl is that you don’t notice it. It sits
at the end of a driveway that runs between an auto parts store and a carry-out on South High
Street, its sign all but lost in the visual noise of telephone poles and competing signs.

“We’re hidden,” Webb said. “We don’t have a good sign. We’ve put so much money into this place
that we can’t afford too many more upgrades until we start bringing some back.”

On the list of challenges that Webb and his wife, Elaine, face every day, visibility is pretty
far down the list. The bowling business itself is not without major challenges — the PBA Hall of
Famer said that league bowlers everywhere have been fleeing at a rate of 7 percent a year — and
when the Webbs bought what was then Rainbow Lanes in April 2010, it was “dirty and very much in the
’70s.”

Webb admits he didn’t have any idea what he was getting into when decided to quit working in a
pro shop in Sacramento, Calif., and become part-owner of his own center.

“Hell, no,” he said, laughing. “
Hell, no. I had a great life. I didn’t know that I was going to jump into such a …”

He didn’t finish the thought, which might have been for the best.

“I was ready to retire.”

Columbus should be grateful that he didn’t. South Siders sometimes feel like they live in a
neglected corner of an exploding city, so what the Webbs are doing in their small corner of it is
no small thing. With no connection to Columbus beyond a business partner in Dayton who wanted to
buy something nearby, they took a risk on an outdated bowling center on a depressed side of
town.

They have spent three years turning it into a beautiful facility with a sports bar — Laney’s —
that Webb says “is probably the nicest bar in the South End.” They have played host to the PBA
Senior Masters and the state high-school tournament for the past three years and have a contract
for the next two and are one of three local centers (Columbus Western Bowl and Holiday Lanes are
the others) playing host to the men’s and women’s U.S. Open this week.

The Webbs invested just about everything they had to make it work and are finally beginning to
see it pay dividends.

“We went bankrupt to move here,” Webb said. “We were all in. If it were Texas Hold-em, we were
all in and we’d better get the right cards at the end, and we’re still waiting for it. We took a
huge chance. That’s why it’s all or nothing. We have to make it work, and that’s why part of it is
so important to us that we do the right thing and try to make people happy.”

It’s not easy. Webb, 57, bowls most of if not all of the 11-event senior tour in the summer,
which coincides with the slowest time of the year for most bowling centers. But when the tour ends
in August, he spends the next eight months opening the lanes seven days a week, oiling the lanes,
does the financials and even makes his own sauce for the pizza in the restaurant. He calls Laney’s
his wife’s “baby,” and says they are determined to serve high-quality food that will draw diners
who aren’t bowlers.

The commitment is especially impressive given their backgrounds. He is a son of a Rehoboth,
Mass., bowling proprietor who has lived all over the place. She is a California native who worked
for a lobbyist in Sacramento and spent several years doing similar work in Washington.

“This is a different kind of politics,” she said. “A different ballgame. It’s a tough business.
There are a lot of challenges, even on the kids side. This house used to be packed with kids. Where
did they go? They’re out there somewhere.”

So are lots of central Ohio bowlers who have never been to their bowling center and probably
never will, even though it’s a nice place that keeps getting nicer.

“We’re trying to pull people in from other parts of the city,” Webb said. “But unbeknownst to
me, a lot of bowlers, if you don’t live in the South End, they don’t come to the South End, and I’m
trying to change that. And it’s working a little bit. I’ve pulled some bowlers from other parts of
the city but we just have to keep getting better at what we do and say, ‘You need to come here,
because we care.'"

They need to go there this week because of the U.S. Open. Having the men’s and women’s events in
the same place is unprecedented. A lot of the sports greats, such as Webb, Pete Weber and Walter
Ray Williams are there and, well, the sign will come later. . .

“We need a big sign like ‘House of Babes,'" Elaine joked, referring to one of their South High
Street neighbors. “We need balloons or something.”